All of the BallisLife All-American girls basketball players who played against each other on Saturday in San Diego are shown in photo above. Photo: Harold Abend.
Amalia Holguin, Cydnee Bryant & Karisma Flores lead team to win in BallisLife All-American Game played at Sea World in San Diego. The two teams also were coached by San Diego area legends Terri Bamford and Marlon Wells.
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Most of the post-season All-American games for graduating senior boys and girls are held far east of California except one, the BallIsLife x Sea World All-American Game held at the Nautilus Amphitheater at the beautiful Sea World theme park this week in San Diego.
Between the boys game, which featured dunks off lobs and corkscrew moves, and the girls game, which surprisingly had some defense and solid three-point shooting, the hoops action made the visit to Sea World by the several hundred fans in attendance well worth the admission.
The girls affair at 4pm that followed the boys game featured 24 young women divided into two teams, the Sharks and Dolphins. All 24 have all committed to a Division I college program. The Sharks team had all four California players, three that played, Kansas-bound Cydnee Bryant from Corona Centennial, Texas-committed Amalia Holguin from Sage Hill of Newport Beach, and UC Santa Barbara-bound Karisma Flores of Oak Park, who was added for Oregon-committed Emilia Krstevski from Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, who watched from the bench. The Sharks’ squad also boasted two other West Coast stars, Texas-bound Aaliah “Lizzy” Spaight of Nevada Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas and South Carolina-committed Oliviyah Edwards from Lincoln of Tacoma, Washington.
Terri Bamford of La Jolla Country Day and Marlon Wells from Rancho Christian of Temecula enjoyed many tense battles when Marlon was coaching at Bishop’s of La Jolla. Photo: Harold Abend.
The game also featured two of California’s legendary coaches. Terri Bamford of La Jolla Country Day, who according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book is the all-time CIF San Diego Section coaching wins leader and No. 8 overall with 756 wins, and Marlon Wells, who just cracked the 600-win barrier with 607 wins and is currently the head coach at Rancho Christian of Temecula. Bamford coached the Dolphins, who had players from the Southwest and east of the Mississippi, while Wells coached the Sharks. They also are Cal-Hi Sports State Coaches of the Year with Wells just getting the honor for the 2026 season.
The game was close for most of the first half with the Sharks leading 42-38 after the first 20 minutes. However, after a 5-0 run to start the second half ending on a basket by Spaight on a perfect no-look from future teammate Holguin, the Sharks pulled away for an 80-71 victory in a game they led by 22 points on two occasions.
The Sharks opened the scoring on a three-pointer by Holguin followed by a three ball by Bryant to take a 6-0 lead and they never trailed in the game. They opened it up to eight points but a 13-8 run by the Dolphins tied it at 29-29, but from there they were never able to get over the hump. It was still relatively close at 56-49 but a basket by Louisville-committed Ariyana “Peanut” Cradle on a pass from Flores, and then back-to-back three-pointers by Flores followed by point guard Spaight taking charge down the stretch sealed the deal.
Besides Spaight, who had a game-high 19 points (two three-pointers) with five rebounds and four assists, it was the California girls that were the real difference makers. Bryant had her patented double-double after finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds with three blocks. Holguin, who played solid defense, had 16 points (three three-pointers) plus seven rebounds and three assists, and Flores, who did not score in the first half, added 11 points on 3-for-6 from outside the arc plus seven rebounds and two assists.
Because she took charge as a floor general, it was Spaight that was named the MVP for the Sharks team.
Three Dolphins’ players had 12 points. Duke-bound Bella Flemings of Texas Brennan of San Antonio, who also won the three-contest on Friday, had four treys on Saturday plus five rebounds. North Carolina State-committed Kamara Pruitt from Legion Prep of Dallas, Texas added four rebounds, but it was Indiana-bound Gigi Battle (one three-pointer, six rebounds, four steals) from DME Academy of Daytona Beach, Florida that garnered MVP honor for the Dolphins.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
